"When I bought my O2 XDA II Mini in February this year, I thought "Now this device will be a keeper for at least a year". How silly of me. As soon as I started reading about the HTC Universal, I knew that was going to change. A device that had a built-in keyboard, WiFi and VGA was for me!! As the device materialized, I was very interested still, but the size and price were huge!! There was no way that I was going to spend on a PDA Phone what could be spent on a decent laptop. Besides that, there was also the size factor. When I got the Mini, I was exposed to the world of a small, all-in-one device that could do the duty of both my phone and PDA. Then I started reading about the HTC Wizard...

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This device seemed perfect. Built-in WiFi? Check. Keyboard? Check. Size? Just right. I placed an order for the K-JAM with Expansys Australia on 24th October. They expected it to ship in 10 days. That seemed fine. But, then that date kept bumping up. Searching through various forums, I found out about an Australian-based company called AnythingOnline. A quick call to them on Friday, 31st October, found that they had stock (51 in stock!), and that they would ship on Monday. I immediately went to their site and placed an order. It was slightly more than Expansys, but they could guarantee me that I would get it next week. I emailed Expansys that I wanted to cancel my order, and sat in wait for next week when my i-mate K-JAM would arrive.>

The Arrival

True to their word, the K-JAM showed up on Tuesday morning at my dad's office. I was at school, so had it sent there so he could sign for it. It was a painful day at school, as dad SMSed me at 9am to say that it was on his desk (at my request unopened). Not only did I have to wade through 6 classes during the day, but I had to wait for him to get home from work!!!!

He got home at 5:30pm, and I was ready to tear into this sucker

First Impressions (1/11/2005 – 2/11/2005)


The i-mate K-JAM box

Included in the box were the following items:

* i-mate K-JAM
* 1250mAh Battery
* 2 Styli (one in device, one spare in box)
* AC Adaptor (Australian plug)
* USB to miniUSB Charge/Sync Cable
* Stereo 2.5mm Headset with Answer button and volume control
* CD With ActiveSync 4.0 and Outlook 2002
* Slip Case (will take about later)
* i-mate Pamphlet

The obvious glaring omission for a device of this price is a cradle. I like to be able to dock my PDA somewhere that I can see the screen, but I can live with it. I did with the Mini….

When I first opened the box I was quite surprised at the size of the device. I had seen pictures on the internet that showed the size of the HTC Wizard next to the HTC Magician (which I had prior to the Wizard), but in hand it just seemed amazing that they could pack everything into a device this size. Unfortunately I sold my Magician before I received the K-JAM, so I can't directly compare them, but here are some photos with other devices I currently own.


iPod nano, Sony PSP, K-JAM, Nokia 8210


Nokia 8210 and K-JAM – funnily have the same size colours!


From top: iPod nano, Nokia 8210, K-JAM, PSP

The extra thickness of the device (compared to the Magician) is noticeable, but during use it is fine. I did find that it was really bulky when combined with the bundled case, so until I receive my PDair case, I have resorted to using the device without a case.



At the moment this suits me fine, but I intend to get a screen protector ASAP. It is definitely worth it to have the built-in keyboard! But more on that later…



The first thing I did before I turned it on was insert my SIM card and 512Mb miniSD card. After I had gone through the silly tutorial (yep, the same one from WM2003, and PPC2000 I think) I did a soft reset to prevent all the bundled programs installing, including an Anti-Virus program which at the moment is useless, as I have read they slow down the device ridiculously. By doing this I have likely saved myself a lot of trouble, and have a much more stable device.

So far I have installed my main apps, some of which are certified for WM5 and some that aren't. I haven't experienced any problems with them. On my device I have:

* TCPMP
* Total Commander
* PHM Regedit and PPC Plus
* SPB GPRS and Pocket Plus
* Opera Mini (MIDlet one)
* MS Stock Scramble (MS Games Pack)
* Monopoly
* Macromedia Flash ActiveX
* AvantGo 5.7
* Skype 1.2 Beta
* Agile Messenger (the free one)
* AE Uptime
* PocketRAR
* MS Voice Command 1.5

The Hardware

The i-mate K-JAM

Before I look at the device, lets look at the specs:

* TI OMAP 850 200mhz Processor
* 128Mb ROM (~47.5Mb available)
* 64MB RAM
* Quad-band GSM Radio with GPRS/EDGE – 850/900/1800/1900Mhz
* Integrated WiFi Radio – 802.11b/g
* Bluetooth 1.2 (2.0 update expected soon)
* miniSD slot
* Integrated Stereo Speakers
* 2.8" QVGA LCD – 240x320 Resolution
* Built-in slide-out QWERTY thumboard
* 1.3MP CMOS Camera with Flash Light
* miniUSB Port (charging and syncing)
* 2.5mm Stereo headphone/headset jack
* Windows Mobile 5


Left Side: Comm Manager Button, Volume Slider, Left Speaker

I, as were many people online, was initially a bit afraid of the use of the OMAP 850 processor in the K-JAM, but after a bit of reading, I figured it would be ok. I have found it to just as good as my XDA II Mini which had an XScale PXA272 416Mhz processor. It has stood up to all the applications I have installed, including Skype which states requirements of a 400 MHz processor. The only area that I have noticed where the XScale beats the OMAP by any noticeable difference is playing video in TCPMP. TCPMP has optimizations for the XScale so I figure that's why. Don't get me wrong, I can play videos that are formatted for the PPC, just not ones with the highest bitrates. This isn't a concern for me, as I rarely play video on my PDA anymore (using the PSP for that). Overall, the system performance is great.


Right Side: Camera Button, IrDA, Right Speaker, Voice Dialer Button

Using the K-JAM is just as easy, if not easier, as it was with the Mini. The K-JAM is the perfect size between PDA and phone, so no looking like an idiot when you hold the phone to your head to take a call. I am very happy with its call quality, which I have noticed seems better and louder than the Mini. The person on the other end can hear me clearly too. I should also mention the speakerphone on this device is excellent. I can hear the caller easily over the stereo speakers, and they can hear me quite clearly from 3 metres away.



The screen on this device is EXCELLENT. It is a lot brighter than the one on my Mini, and I typically use it at half brightness because it is so bright. The 2.8" size is excellent, as things are not too small, but the higher density of the pixels gives a sharper picture with less black lines between them.

Next up is the WiFi. I have had a PDA with built-in WiFi before (the iPAQ 4355), and it is soooo much better than having an external WiFi card. The sheer convenience of just taping an icon and having WiFi come on is fantastic. Not only does it have WiFi, but it also uses the newer (and faster) 802.11g standard, with a maximum throughput of 54Mbps. Not doing any scientific tests, I can say that it is much faster than my Mini with Sandisk SD WiFi card was at transferring files. I transferred a 6Mb MP3 file in less than 15 seconds, which took a lot longer using the Mini + SD WiFi combo. The b/g radio does offer better performance, which is great. It doesn't really help with internet access though, as 3Mbps Cable sees little (if any) benefit over the faster connection.


Top: Power Button and miniSD Slot

I have only used the Bluetooth for syncing, but it works very well for that. It seems a lot faster than the Mini did, but this could also be a combo of WM5 and ActiveSync 4.1. It is a lot easier to setup BT ActiveSync now that there are options in ActiveSync on the PPC for it.

The speakers in this device are AWESOME!!! I have never heard such a loud PDA before. Ringtones are deafening, as are playing MP3s. At highest volumes on MP3s there is some distortion, but even at the highest they go with good quality they will blow you away. I was always annoyed when I would miss a call on the Mini because of the low ringer volume, but I know this will not be an issue for this device!


Back: 1.3MP CMOS Camera, Flash Light, Removable Battery Door

The camera isn't anything to get excited about, its still pretty poor, but an improvement on the Mini's camera. The Flash Light does help, but only if the camera is within 50cm of the target. It is rather useless, but never mind. If you're looking for a good camera, you aren't looking at a PDA to fulfill that need.


Daylight - no flash


Inside - no flash

But as I said with the Mini, a camera is better than none, and this one will do if you don't have your good camera handy but want to take a snap of something.


Bottom: Lanyard, 2.5mm Headset Jack, miniUSB port, Battery Cover Switch, Stylus

Now it is likely that one of your main reasons (as it was mine) for buying the K-JAM (or other variant) is the built-in thumboard. The thumboard has a blue backlight for seeing it in the dark. I am very happy with the keyboard. I tried the HTC Blue Angel keyboard, and the membrane style wasn't that great. This keyboard has separate buttons that have great tactile feel, good spacing and are a decent size. The device automatically switches into landscape when you slide the keyboard out which is a nice feature. I haven't had any problems using the keyboard so far, and have found it to be better than the one on my iPAQ 4355. The backlight can be a bit annoying when it isn't quite dark, but its not too bad. HTC have done an excellent job of fitting a decent keyboard into a small device like this, without having to sacrifice screen space like with the iPAQ hw65/67xx.






The keyboard backlight

Having the soft keys definitely comes in handy when you get a stylus like the one supplied. It is a bit better than the Mini, because of its thickness, but it is a return to the telescopic days. This stylus is ridiculously small when collapsed, and on occasion it doesn't extend when removed from the silo.



The hardware buttons on the face of the device are very study, have excellent feel and do not flex at all. They don't wobble like I found on the Mini. The only issue I have found is the top two buttons have started to wear off.

They are cut into the metal, and filled with a grey paint, but the paint has started to wear off. The Messaging icon was half gone, so I scratched the rest off. I expect the IE icon to go soon too. It looks fine without the paint, just a bit lighter. The Send/End keys light up their appropriate colours which is a nice touch.



The case that comes with the device is not that great. Unless you want to carry it on your belt, it's too thick to put in a pants pocket. It would be ok in a jacket pocket, but even then I think it's a stretch. I have been carrying the device without a case and that seems to work pretty well. It makes it easy to use the keyboard, as there is no case in the way to obstruct use of the device. I have a PDair case ordered, so I will see if I will continue without a case or use the PDair one.

Update 13/11/05: Received the PDair case, and its fit just wasn't that good. The K-JAM wouldn't sit straight in it, and the way is clang to the device (a piece of plastic between the screen and keyboard) seems to strain the slider. I have sent it back and am waiting to receive a replacement case (the PDair Aluminium version for the K-JAM).



The K-JAM uses a miniSD slot, which is absolutely tiny!! I ordered a 512Mb card off eBay at the same time as I placed my order with Expansys, so I got it well before I received the K-JAM. As you can see, compared to other memory cards its tiny.


miniSD Card and Comparison between miniSD Adaptor, miniSD, MS Duo and MMC

The battery in the K-JAM is a 1250mAh Li-Ion removable battery. So far, I am very impressed with the battery life of this unit. I can use it for about 7hrs, with a combination of WiFi, BT, GPRS, Calls and music, in addition to standard PIM functions. I was amazed that it could last this long under such stress!!





That OMAP processor must really be saving power. I rarely got about 6.5hrs of that sort of use on my Mini, and that doesn't include using my SD WiFi!

That about does it for the hardware side of the device. Lets look at the software.

Software

The K-JAM comes with Microsoft's latest addition to the Windows Mobile lineup: Windows Mobile 5. The greatest thing I have found about the new operating system is the one-handed operation of the device by using "soft keys" to navigate programs (just like the MS Smartphone OS has done since the beginning). This is great on a small device like the K-JAM, as it means you aren't constantly reaching for the (toothpick) stylus. This is especially important because of the keyboard, as it is preferable not to have to keep taking out the stylus all the time.

Older applications may not yet have soft key support, which is quite a shame as it makes navigation a lot easier. It would be great if WM5 could detect when an app has only one or two buttons on the menu bar and automatically assign them to soft keys.

As you will see in the following screenshots, the included applications all take advantage of the new soft keys. On my Today screen I have used a registry mod to change my right soft key to Agile Messenger.


Today Screen and Phone Screen


Programs and ActiveSync


Internet Explorer in Full Screen and Standard view


New Contacts View with Picture Support and Comm Manager (Toggle WiFi/BT/Sound ON/OFF)


File Explorer (with new Folder Up button) and Windows Media Player 10.2


Pocket MSN (not a dead web link but a menu!) and MSN Messenger


Memory Panel (notice lack of allocation slider due to WM5 memory configuration)

I won't go through all of the various WM5 features, as they are largely the same as WM2003. For a great review of WM5, have a look at this BargainPDA article.

Conclusion



Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. The device doesn't show any slowdowns as the processor might suggest. Even though you only get a fraction of the 128MB ROM for your own use, the portion you do get is bigger than that on 64MB devices. I have loaded all of my applications into ROM, only having music and files on my 512Mb miniSD. WiFi and BT work very well, and the 802.11g radio does make a difference in the speed of file transfers over the network. The screen is excellent, and very bright. I wish it used SD cards, as I already had an SD card, but miniSD isn't too expensive so it's not really a problem.